


Crossing the Rubicon

by poetroe



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon Compliant, F/F, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Glimadora - Freeform, Glimmadora - Freeform, Possibly the fluffiest thing I've ever written, Post-Season/Series 01, adora is a dork, glimmer is a badass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 06:37:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17381510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetroe/pseuds/poetroe
Summary: “When Glimmer turns back to her side, she notices Adora, already awake and observing her. She fleetingly wonders if she’s got something on her face; maybe there’s a little drool trailing down from the corner of her mouth. Glimmer wipes at her mouth with her hand, just in case.”5 times Glimmer catches Adora staring + 1 time she gets caught herself





	Crossing the Rubicon

**Author's Note:**

> aren't glimmer and adora just sO CUTE together!! like I love catradora too but these two deserve more fics written about them tbh. I hope you guys enjoy reading this big ball of fluff as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Please leave a comment if you did, and have a good weekend!

_Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon river was an event in 49 BC that precipitated the Roman Civil War, which ultimately led to Caesar becoming dictator for life and the rise of the imperial era of Rome. Today, the phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is an idiom that means to pass a point of no return._

* * *

 

1

It becomes a common occurrence. Glimmer doesn’t exactly know why; she thinks it might be because Adora can never seem to be on her own, always seeking out the company of Bow, Swift Wind, or Glimmer herself. She has a theory for this, of course.

Based on whatever limited information Adora has shared about growing up in the Fright Zone, Glimmer knows that there is little to no sense of self instilled in these kids, who have been taken in and raised by the Horde. Everything is done communally there; training, eating, sleeping, bathing. It explains why Adora has no problems with sharing a room or a bath occasionally, and why she gets antsy when Glimmer and Bow both have someplace else to be.

That’s why Glimmer and Bow line up their schedules; so Adora never has to be on her own. That’s why bathing together after training or a battle somehow forms into a habit; one that Glimmer could have done without, but as time passes she realizes she rather enjoys.

They’re sitting close together, Glimmer’s shoulder pressed against Adora’s, the water reaching up to their chins. No words have been spoken in a while, the both of them content to just relax and let the warm water sooth their aching muscles and fresh injuries. Glimmer gently rubs at her scraped knees, ignoring the tingling pain that comes with touching the wound. After a moment she lets go and stretches her legs, staring through the water at their distorted appearance and leaning back against Adora a bit more.

Suddenly, there is the feeling of soft fingers tracing her back. The motions circle a familiar place as Adora’s hand makes quiet splashing noises, moving through the water.

“I’ve always wondered about these,” she says, and when Glimmer turns her head she can see a far-off look in Adora’s eyes, as she continues to brush over the small, purple wings that are embedded in her back. “They’re really pretty.” Glimmer smiles at that, and the feeling of Adora’s thumb pressing circles over the wings. She wonders how long Adora had been waiting to bring them up. And if she even would have, if it hadn’t been just the two of them here.

“I get them from my mom,” Glimmer answers, closing her eyes. “They’re small now, but once I get stronger in my magic and learn to control it better, they’ll grow until they’re as big as hers.” Adora takes a moment to reply. Glimmer guesses it’s because of the mental picture she just supplied Adora with; it’s a strange thing to think about for her, too.

“Still,” Adora hums after a while. Her breath tickles Glimmer’s ear as she speaks. “I think I might like them more… like this.” Another rub over her back accompanies the words. Glimmer snorts and leans forward, fully intending to turn around, face Adora and ask her if she’s even _seen_ her mother’s wings; but when she does, Adora still has that distant look in her eyes.

So Glimmer just quirks a smile, and mutters: “I can see that. You’re staring, you dork.”

 

2

“So, the other day I was wondering about something.” Glimmer looks up from her notebook and at Adora, who’s sitting on the edge of her bed, legs dangling over the edge. This is far from the first time she’s said something like that, so Glimmer turns her attention back to battle formations and strategies.

“About what?” she answers. The page in front of her is outlining different battle scenarios and Glimmer scribbles some of her ideas next to the different approaches. Leapfrogging seems like a necessary tactic in all cases, due to the advantage of numbers the Horde has over the Rebellion. It might not have to be, though, if they can accurately predict and use the weather as a force multiplier. Especially if the magic firepower provided to them by the princesses is used in the right place, at the right time. Glimmer leans her chin on her hand wearily, stares at the notebook for another second and then decides to just close it. With a huff, she turns from her stomach to her back. Then she notices Adora, staring at her. “What?”

“I _said_ —” Adora pauses for a second, hesitating, a blush on her cheeks. “I was wondering how you get your hair to be like that.” Glimmer raises an eyebrow, and looks up. Her hair is starting to get longer, evident by the tiny wisps of shiny pink falling over her forehead, almost into her eyes.

“Like what?” Glimmer asks. Adora shrugs, then turns around, bringing her legs up on the bed and crossing them, so she can face Glimmer fully.

“Just, I don’t know,” she says, gesturing a little with one hand. “It’s so pink. And purple. And _sparkly_. I’ve never seen anyone with hair like yours, you know.” Glimmer grins, feeling a happy warmth settle in her belly at the compliment.

“I guess it’s a family thing,” Glimmer answers. “I have my mom’s hair and magic, and the rest of me is all my dad, or so she says.” Adora mirrors her smile.

“I wish I could have met him,” she says softly. Then, as if trying to dispel any heavy mood she could have brought down on Glimmer: “I mean— You’re so amazing, I’m sure he must have been, too.” Glimmer chuckles and pats the empty space next to her on the bed. Adora immediately crawls over to sit there, moving the notebook and Glimmer’s gel pens to the edge of the bed. They could break and spill their colorful ink all over the stone floor if they were to fall from so high up, but Glimmer forgets about that when Adora comes close. She’s sitting up and Glimmer is still laying down, so she takes this chance to gently place her head in Adora’s lap.

“Yeah, me too,” Glimmer says, before closing her eyes again. The room settles into a comfortable silence once more. A tiny peek through her lashes shows Glimmer that Adora’s eyes are still on her with undivided attention, and she grins. “You can touch my hair by the way, if you want to.” Adora smiles and complies happily, her fingers coming up to track a path through Glimmer’s hair.

 

3

They’ve been going at this for _hours_. At least, that’s how it feels. Glimmer briefly wonders how much longer she’ll be able to keep this up; though she’s trying to keep the use of her teleportation powers to a minimum, she can feel the blasts she’s propelling at the approaching Horde squads taking their toll on her magic.

The Singing River is rushing behind her and Glimmer grits her teeth. They have to stand their ground here, the narrowest point of the river until it branches off into multiple streams further downstream, forming a soggy marshland that stretches all the way to the coast. The river upstream is of no use to their enemy; too broad, and littered with height differences that form the loudly rushing waterfalls that give the river its name. The Rebellion would have to win today, or else the Horde could pass the river here and advance further into Rebel territory.

A quick glance around the battlefield is all Glimmer can manage before another rag-tag team of Horde soldiers charges at her again. She must have held off at least six teams of five already, and maybe blasted another couple dozen random foot soldiers. It’s not that Glimmer doesn’t like fighting—she loves it, especially when they’re winning—but her armor is starting to dig into her shoulders, and her body is hurting just about everywhere.

The first Horde soldier that reaches her gets a solid swing of her dad’s staff in the face, instantly shattering the pale yellow visor of the helmet and crashing into the face inside. Quick like that hit was, Glimmer swivels back around; just in time to throw up an arm and block an incoming punch with her forearm guard. She has to duck to avoid another fist, then uses her position close to the ground to swing the staff again and sweep her assailant’s legs out from under them. There’s a soldier with a stun gun, standing at a bit of a distance with another one and blasting rays of electricity in her general vicinity like a maniac. They all miss, until Glimmer sees them raising up the gun so that it’s aimed straight at her chest and her breath catches in her throat. In that split second it takes for the soldier to pull the trigger, Glimmer teleports herself to someplace in the sky, about ten feet above the soldier next to them.

Glimmer blinks and then she’s falling. In her peripheral vision she sees another Horde soldier collapse, one that looks to have been unfortunate enough to have been standing right behind her when she teleported. Using the momentum of her fall, Glimmer kicks the Horde soldier below her in the head before she falls on the ground, landing on her stomach. The other one, the one that had just accidentally hit a their team mate, has recovered from the shock of seeing teleportation magic at just about the same time as Glimmer manages to get up. In what is probably a lot of luck seeing how exhausted she is, Glimmer beats them to the punch and blasts them in the face with her magic before she can get stunned, too. That’s another team down, Glimmer thinks as she bows over with her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

Then she notices She-Ra, standing at a distance but looking at her with a slack jaw. It’s strange to see the warrior princess stand motionless in the heat of the battle, especially looking so shocked. Glimmer grins, unable feel anything but pleased with herself, the way she just took out a five person squad on her own and how impressed Adora is with her because of that, apparently.

Her grin turns into a fully toothed smile when the tall warrior goes on to stumble and drop her sword when another approaching soldier catches her off-guard and all but jumps on her back in an attack.

 

4

Their weekly meeting with the Rebellion General, a powerful, intelligent woman with an imposing scar that runs right over the bridge of her nose, is ending. Glimmer tries to pay attention until the very last item on their agenda, but her focus starts slipping when the conversation turns to the intricacies of maintaining reliable supply routes with the kingdoms that border with the territory occupied by the Horde.

It’s no less important than the battle strategies they’d gone over earlier, yet Glimmer can’t seem to help the way her gaze begins drifting through the room, passing by all the princesses until her eyes ultimately fall on Adora, sitting next to her. She looks every bit as tired as Glimmer feels.

The skin below her eyes is dark and her eyes keep drooping down slightly, drifting closed time and time again until she seems to notice and blinks a couple of times, in order to keep them open and focused. Glimmer grabs her hand under the table, squeezing softly in solidarity. Adora looks at her, evidently surprised, and shoots her a crooked smile.

When they get to Glimmer’s room afterwards, the first thing Glimmer does is teleport straight into bed.

“I’m so tired,” she groans into her pillow. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so exhausted in my _life_.” Adora chuckles as she makes her way up using the steps, and collapses next to Glimmer on the bed, which starts swinging faintly at the movement.

“You should sleep,” she says as she turns to face Glimmer. They’re laying so close that Glimmer could press their foreheads together with the littlest of movements. “The Rebellion can do without their fearsome commander for one afternoon, right?” Glimmer chuckles.

“I guess you’re right,” she murmurs as she looks at Adora. There is a light scar running from the middle of her cheek down to her jaw and her face is littered with small cuts, all in different stages of healing. “But you should, too.” Adora smiles and grabs onto one of Glimmer’s hand, laying their joined fingers on the bed between them.

“Okay,” she says as she closes her eyes. Her hand feels comfortably warm being held by Adora’s, and with her tiredness wearing her down, Glimmer can’t help but follow suit. She drifts off almost immediately.

There’s no telling how much time has passed exactly, when Glimmer emerges from her slumber. In her sleep she has turned to her back fully, so when she opens her eyes, she can see Etheria’s moons shine clearly through the glass ceiling of her room.

When Glimmer turns back to her side, she notices Adora, already awake and observing her. She fleetingly wonders if she’s got something on her face; maybe there’s a little drool trailing down from the corner of her mouth. Glimmer wipes at her mouth with her hand, just in case.

“Hey,” she says, her voice slightly raspy from sleep, “what time is it?” Adora raises one shoulder in a shrug, and her eyes leave Glimmer’s face in favor of their joined hands.

“Don’t know,” she answers. “Also, I don’t really care.” Glimmer raises an eyebrow at that. Especially since the room is considerably darker than before, which means they must have skipped dinner entirely.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Glimmer asks, disbelievingly. Adora shifts a little, still looking away.

“I mean, maybe a little, but we don’t have to leave,” she mutters. Finally, her eyes meet Glimmer’s again. “You look really comfortable.” Glimmer smiles. Adora has done this before, sacrificing little things for her, like taking the long way to the council room because she knows Glimmer likes the view from the utmost western hallway, which looks over the bay and the Whispering Woods, even if it’ll make them late; or sitting with her in the portrait hall, sometimes for hours on end, when Glimmer argues with her mom and misses her dad.

“You’re too sweet,” Glimmer answers, closing her eyes again and pushing their foreheads together.

 

5

A comfortable silence descends over the room again and Glimmer sighs. Adora radiates warmth and, squeezing the hand in hers, Glimmer scoots closer. She hears Adora’s shaky exhale as she does so, and feels the breath on her cheek, a true testament of how close they are.

Glimmer peeks through her eyelashes and finds Adora’s grey blue eyes, staring at her. Or face, more specifically.

“What is it?” she whispers, because she kind of expected Adora to go along with her, and close her eyes too. Who knows, they might have been able to sleep through the night, turning this nap into a good night’s sleep, for once. But Adora seems wide awake. “Do you want to eat something, anyway? We can get up,” Glimmer says. “And, you know, go back to sleep at a reasonable hour.” Adora shakes her head, a movement that’s imperceptibly small, but Glimmer is pressed against her so she feels it, regardless.

“No, I—” Adora is interrupted by a loud growl, coming from her belly. Glimmer starts giggling; partly because of the irony of that sound, but mostly because of the adorable blush that’s taken over Adora’s cheeks.

“It’s okay,” she says as she moves away from Adora’s quickly reddening face, and sits up. “I think we already missed dinner, but we can go down to the kitchens and ask if they can whip up some of that soup that you like—”

“No, no, I don’t want to go just yet,” Adora cuts in. She sits up too, and places a hand on Glimmer’s arm. Glimmer meets her eyes again and stills. There is something in the way they’re set that has her captivated, and she can’t look away. “I want to stay here for a while.”

Glimmer can’t help herself. “And do what?” she asks, lamely. Adora shrugs offhandedly and moves a little closer. The look on her face is the same as it had been earlier, when Glimmer had just woken up; Adora looks like she’s somewhere else, except she focuses on Glimmer’s face with an intensity, her gaze fluttering between Glimmer’s eyes and her lips.

All of a sudden, Glimmer realizes the answer to her question and she wonders how this has never occurred to her before. All the looks, the touches; even if this is just the way Adora is, the way she treats Glimmer is worlds away from how she acts around Bow, or any of her other friends.

It’s a good thing she’s figured this out on her own, because Adora doesn’t look like she’s capable of answering. In words, at least, because she’s moving closer still and Glimmer smiles softly, before she complies with Adora’s silent request, and bridges the limited space between them to meet Adora’s lips in a kiss.

It’s soft, sweet, and slow, giving Glimmer all the time in the world to completely lose herself in the way Adora feels as she’s pressed against her. There is a small cut on Adora’s lower lip, and Glimmer gently runs her tongue over it, before pulling back somewhat and taking it between her own lips, kissing it fully. Her kisses aren’t magic, but Adora hums contently at the action, so Glimmer repeats the process on her bruised nose and the cut on her eyebrow, and then on every other inch of Adora’s face. Adora starts giggling breathlessly as Glimmer presses kisses all over her face and Glimmer feels a smile of her own coming on, stretching so wide she feels like the muscles in her cheeks are going to end up strained.

Not that it matters much, with Adora in her arms to kiss it better.

 

+1

It’s late at night. Most members of the Princess Alliance have already gone to bed, tired from the battle and the celebration of their victory afterward, but Glimmer and Adora are still here, sitting around the campfire they’d made outside the castle walls. Bow is in his element, telling long winding tales about King Jared, the first ruler of Etheria, how he learnt magic from the ancient trees in the Whispering Woods as a prince and how he taught the Singing River how to sing.

Glimmer feels strange. There’s a strange exhilaration thrumming through her veins, most likely stemming from the way she’s sitting pressed up against Adora. At the same time she’s tired the way she always is after a battle, not just in her limbs and aching muscles, but mentally as well. When she was younger, she couldn’t wait for her chance to partake in the Rebellion, to make a name for herself and live up to the legacy of her father. Now, she just wishes it would all end.

The last few people are standing up and going back inside the castle, leaving only Bow, Glimmer and Adora. Bow pokes at the glowing embers of the fire aimlessly. He looks tired, too. Glimmer knows he could continue on for another couple of hours still; telling them about how King Jared was a master marksman with a bow, how he hid the Crown of Knowledge, or how he was the first to hear the Growling Sea roar. But they could all use the rest.

“Maybe we should go to bed, too,” Glimmer says, staring into the embers. Bow yawns, then nods.

“Yeah,” he says, standing up. “If I don’t find my bed soon, I’m probably going to collapse in the nearest patch of soft-looking grass.” Adora chuckles and stands up, moving over to hug Bow tightly.

“Goodnight,” she tells him as Glimmer pushes herself off of the ground, as well. They say their goodbyes, short but sweet, and make their way to their respective rooms. Or Bow does, at least. Ever since they’ve kissed, Adora has been spending her nights in Glimmer’s bed. She’d already been doing that fairly often, but Glimmer finds she likes the certainty of having her there every night, close enough that she’d only have to roll over to find herself in Adora’s arms, or pressed against her back.

When they get to Glimmer’s room, they change into their pajama’s silently. It’s the middle of the night, and the castle is so quiet that it feels like they’re the only ones in it; just Glimmer and Adora, going through the motions of stripping off their battle worn armor and slipping on soft nightshirts.

Glimmer is done before Adora and teleports lazily onto her bed, hanging over the edge a little in order to keep looking at the girl. She struggles a little in getting her head through the opening and Glimmer smiles. When she’s overcome the nightshirt and slips her arms through the sleeves, Adora walks over to the glass panels that make up the windows of Glimmer’s room, and looks outside.

The soft light of Etheria’s moons hit Adora’s cheek and it is captivating; suddenly, Glimmer feels like she’s entirely too far away where she’s laying on the bed. Adora gazes out over the valley peacefully, and pulls her hair free from the tie, letting it fall freely over her shoulders.

Glimmer couldn’t look away if she tried. Something in her chest contracts at the sight of seeing Adora standing there, in the moonlight. It feels the way it does whenever she teleports, except that there is no magic involved, and instead of a place Glimmer feels like she’s about to simply poof out of existence. She doesn’t. Instead, Adora turns around and catches her eyes, the corner of her mouth pulling up into a lopsided grin.

“You’re staring,” she says, sounding entirely too smug for her own good. Glimmer huffs, but doesn’t look away.

“And you’re slow,” she mutters, already feeling a blush coming on. Glimmer watches Adora as she jumps up the steps to her bed excitedly, almost falling off of the last one. She sees the content smile that takes its place on her face once Adora is lying in bed with her, and she knows it’s there to stay for the night.

A moon shines a gentle beam across Adora’s face and Glimmer stares and rubs at it with her thumb, savoring the warmth that uncoils in her chest, realizing that this must be what it feels like to be in love.

**Author's Note:**

> shameless self promo: if you liked this you might enjoy my catradora stuff too!!


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